Yellow Warbler Baby eating a Mayfly

An image from 20 years ago that I just reprocessed for publication. A baby Yellow Warbler photographed just seconds after a Mayfly was delivered by its father for breakfast. Flashback 20 years, and you will find me with my first professional digital camera, the Nikon 1DX, paired with a Nikon 300mm f/2.8 doubler with a flash and a Better Beamer flash extender to add a little catchlight and fill the shadows. There have been so many advances in the digital photography world …….

Yellow warbler baby eating a Mayfly (Setophaga petechia, Pauline jaune, YEWA) From long ago on June 18, 2004. ©Christopher Dodds All Rights Reserved. Nikon 1DX & Nikon 300mm f/2.8 Lens with Nikon 2X Teleconverter @600mm. ISO 400, f/7.6 @ 1/2,50s Manual exposure with fill flash and Better Beamer flash extender.

Yellow warbler singing portrait headshot

A portrait of a male Yellow warbler singing from my recently concluded Songbirds of Pelee workshop in Point Pelee National Park of Canada.

Male Yellow warblers sing a sweet series of 6–10 whistled notes that accelerate throughout the roughly 1-second song and often end on a rising note. The tone is so sweet that people often remember it with the mnemonic sweet sweet sweet, I’m so sweet.